The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not approved any pardons during its current term, as confirmed to N1.

However, the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) has granted pardons to eight individuals, as published in the Official Gazette of the FBiH numbers 82/23, 2/24, and 27/24.

The President of FBiH, Lidija Bradara, makes decisions on pardons in accordance with the FBiH Constitution and the FBiH Pardon Law. She considers opinions from the correctional institution where the convict is serving their sentence, the court that handled the first-instance proceedings, and the FBiH Ministry of Justice, though these opinions are not binding.

Bradara does not have the legal basis to request information about the pardoned individuals. The act of granting a pardon is described as an act of mercy, which is difficult to view purely from a normative perspective, according to Bradara's office.

Among those pardoned by Bradara is Mario Basic, a police inspector from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the West Herzegovina Canton, who was sentenced to seven months in prison for forgery of official documents.

In 2023, out of 48 pardon requests, Bradara rejected 42. Those granted pardons were convicted of various crimes, including embezzlement in service, serious crimes against public traffic safety, forgery, illegal logging, abuse of office, serious bodily injury, and unauthorized procurement and carrying of firearms.

The President of the Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, has pardoned five individuals, including former public attorney Mirko Stojcinovic and former hospital director in Doboj, Mladen Gajic. Despite the Banja Luka District Court providing negative opinions in both cases, Dodik exercised his legal right to pardon, including in a case where an individual killed a man from Teslic in a traffic accident.

Dodik stated that his decisions were influenced by factors such as the convicts having served half of their sentences, exhibiting good behavior, and specific circumstances like having children. In the case of Ljubomir Banjac, who was involved in a fatal traffic accident, Dodik noted the importance of family considerations and the convict’s lack of intoxication at the time of the incident.

“My discretionary right allows me to grant a pardon if the convict has started serving their sentence, even in the first month,” Dodik stated in response to N1’s inquiries.